Control and management of insects attracted to animals, such as dairy cows, has proven challenging, costly, illusive, and frequently ineffective. Both muscoid and nonmuscoid flies, in a wide variety of species, cluster synanthropically to humans and their domestic animals, or in close proximity to humans and domesticated animals, such as cows. Insects may have dramatic impact on the economics of animal production, which is a commercial industry constituting a significant contribution to the gross national product of the United States, where the dairy cattle industry has been estimated to produce $12 billion annually.
The several different species of flies commonly found on livestock premises may cause a number of problems, including irritating cows so severely that milk production suffers; transmitting disease pathogens; increasing enteric (intestinal) diseases among humans associated with cow herds; violation of regulatory rules and regulations, and a host of similar problems. The flies can cause severe irritation to the animal, pink eye blindness in one or both eyes and even the death of the animal. Further, as with another discomfort, the animal does not grow as rapidly or additionally, or in the case of milk cows, give as much milk Heretofore many attempts have been made to solve the insect problem in the cattle industry, but none has been found to be completely satisfactory. For instance, the insecticide dispenser may be satisfactory, but it may prove difficult to have cattle utilize the device.